reviews

All Quiet in Northern Iraq... Author:  Kevin Powers I’ve never fought in a war.  So I can’t claim to know what it’s like.  I’ve also never been to the desert wastes of Iraq.  So I don’t know what they’re like, either.  When it comes to wars and the foreign lands that host them, most of us have to rely on the testimony of others to try and get a reliable picture of reality.  But Kevin Powers has been to war, serving in the US Army in Iraq in 2004 and 2005.  So while he’s just one man, he knows more [...]

Everyone Has a Reason to Murder Colonel Protheroe Author: Agatha Christie In Agatha Christie’s first Miss Marple mystery, the sanctity of holy places is disrupted when the town’s most hated denizen, Colonel Protheroe, is found shot, slumped over a last minute note to the vicar. It seems that everyone in the town has a motive for wanting the meddlesome Protheroe out of the way: a depressed wife, the wife’s chaste yet obsessive lover, the Colonel’s bizarre daughter, a nearby poacher, a newcomer to the town with a dark past, and even the vicar and his much younger wife, Griselda. It [...]

The Horrors of the "Great War"... Author:  Erich Maria Remarque Although I’m no authority on world history, I think there are few who will dispute that World War I constitutes one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century.  While leading to the death of over 16 million soldiers and civilians, the “Great War” was awful for more than just its monstrous death toll.  It also introduced a host of new and horrible ways for humans to kill and maim each other.  While much has been written of this war, All Quiet on the Western Front remains an undisputed classic [...]